Woman left by smugglers recovering

Her toes were burned, her knees scraped from the falls, her legs scratched by the thorny plants found on the arid mountains near Tecate.

But she is alive.

Seven days after being abandoned by her smugglers as she attempted to cross the border illegally, Jovita Ochoa, 50, was rescued by U.S. Border Patrol agents.

They found her sitting on a rock near Highway 94, about five miles east of the Tecate crossing, dehydrated and hungry.

Speaking from a bed in Tijuana's Red Cross hospital a few days after being deported, Ochoa still was shaken and confused. She struggled to remember details of the days she spent alone in the wilderness.

Border crossers separated from their guides in the mountains or in the deserts can die of dehydration or of exposure to severe weather. Their numbers are unknown, because in many cases their remains are never found. The Border Patrol said that in the year that ended Sept. 30, six people who were crossing the border illegally in San Diego County died of exposure.

Ochoa said she left Tecate on Jan. 8 with a group of people headed for San Diego, where her partner awaited her. Her final destination was Red Bluff, a Northern California town where she had worked as a nanny.

Like many migrants, Ochoa had returned to Mexico for a family emergency. Her 83-year-old mother in the state of Michoacan was suffering from heart problems.

Ochoa was trying to return to her job in California when she got lost. In poor physical shape, Ochoa said she could not keep up with a group she was crossing with and fell. One of the other migrants tried to help her stand up, but the smuggler told him that unless she was a relative, to let her go.

The group continued its quick pace and disappeared into the bushes.

Ochoa said she tried to find a highway, but found nothing. She had no food or water and wore only jeans, a blouse, closed-toe sandals and a light sweater.

Still, Ochoa was lucky. During the days she was lost, the region experienced warmer-than-normal weather, with daytime temperatures in the 70s and 80s, and in the low 40s at night.

“I was very scared,” she said.

Ochoa recalled finding a puddle of water, perhaps an arroyo, from which she drank water. She walked for long periods of time, and lay down when she was tired.

While she roamed along the mountain, Rafael López, her partner of more than 10 years and a legal U.S. resident, sought news of her. The couple had traveled from Michoacan to Tijuana, where they rented a hotel room downtown. The plan was that Ochoa would cross and López would meet her in San Diego.

López contacted Rafael Hernández of Desert Angels, a humanitarian group that searches for people who have become lost along the border.

At the Border Patrol office in Campo, an agent recognized Ochoa from a photograph and said she had been rescued.

Border Patrol officials said she was dehydrated and that her feet were swollen when she was found. She declined medical assistance and, after spending a night at a detention center, she was deported.

She walked from the border gate back to the hotel where she had stayed earlier. That's where López and Hernández found her, barefoot, dirty, and still dehydrated, and took her to the hospital.

The chief of surgery, Dr. Mario Betancourt Vásquez, said Ochoa will remain under observation for several days to determine if she will need to have some of her toes amputated and have reconstructive surgery.

Border crossers “generally don't last that long,” Betancourt said. “If it had been summer, she wouldn't have lasted more than two days.”

Ochoa is not sure what she's going to do next. One thing is certain, however. She won't test herself against mountains again.